Workman s time-recorder



Patented May l6, i899. D. HEPP.

WORKMANS TIME RECORDER.

(Application filed N'Dv. 29, 1898.) (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet L Patented May [6, I899. D. HEPP.

WOBKMANS TIME BEGDBDER.

(Application filed Nov. 29,.1898.) 7 (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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. c. THE nonms PETERS 0a.. PMoTo-uTHQ, wAsnmaYoN. D

UNTTED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

DANIEL HEP'P, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WORKMANS TIME-RECORDER.

. a SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 625,262, dated May16, 1899. Application filed November 29, 1898. Serial No. 69?,7'l2. (N0model.) i

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL HEPP, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,'haveinvented and produced a new and useful Improvement in VVorkinensTime-Recorders; and I do declare the following to be a f nll,'clcar, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the figures marked on the accompanying drawings, which forma part of this specification.

My invention relates to workmens time-recorders, and has for itsparticular object to provide a means for recording accurately the timeof arrival and departure of employees from shops, factories, and thelike, so that a permanent record of said employees may be kept.

A further object is to reduce the size of the recorders now in use byabolishing the keyboard where every employee has his or her key, whichif lost causes great annoyance and inconvenience.

My invention consists in the following constructions and combinations ofparts, the details of which will be described first, and the patentablefeatures of the invention then set forth and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side view of a workmanstime-recorder, partly in section and partly in elevation, to which myinvention has been applied. Fig. 2 represents a door-panel, showing theslotted plate and penholder in position. Fig. 3 is a plan view of thelower support of the cylinder. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the upperbearing of the cylinder. Fig. 5 represents the timeslip'. Fig. 6 is thebearing-block of the upper bearing. Fig. '7 is a partial section andelevation of the penholder on the line 00 0c of Fig. 8. Fig. 3 is a sidesection and elevation of the penholder. Fig. 9 is a front section andelevation of'the penholder. Fig. 10 is a crosssection of the plates 5and 6 in the slot. Fig. 11 is the pen-blank. Fig.12 is one of the pensready for use. Fig. 13 is a side view of the pen. Fig. 14.is across-section of the penholder onthe line 0 0 of Fig. 8.

1 represents the panel of a door upon which the index-plate 2 isfastened. The plate 2 has the slot 3 to hold the pen in a verticalposition. The pen 8 is supported in the plunger 9, which is pushed awayfrom the cylinder 18 or record-carrying element by spiral springs 10.Attached to the plunger 9 is a contactplate 11, which when the plungeris depressed makes an electrical connection between the insulated strips12 on each side of the slot, thus ringing an alarm-bell 125 or otherelec-' .trical alarm mechanism in circuit with the strips 12. The topplate 5 is bent upward to form the handle 13, below which is a fiatspring 14, bent in the shape of a catch 15. The formation of the spring14 is such as to fit into the notches 4 and then pass upwardly through amortise in the handle 13 and screwed to top plate 5.

When the workman enters or leaves the building, he places his thumb onthe handle 13 and his first finger under the tongue 14 and presses themtogether. The penholder can then be moved up or down until theindexarrow 16 points to his number, and he then. pushes the button 17 inuntil it strikes the cylinder 18, thereby marking upon the timesliparound the cylinder a small dot, indicatin g the time the button 17 wasdepressed, and

at the same time the metal plate 11 comes into contact with theinsulated strips 12, which rings a bell.

Only the alternate notches are given numbers on each side of theslot,'so that by moving the penholder one space but one right or lefthand number comes under the index-arrow points 16. The workman willtherefore have no difficulty in properly selecting the notch indicated-forinstance,by his number.

The pen is cut and made into the form as shown in Fig. 11 and bentlongitudinally through the center. The pen at its upper end is slottedand bulged out at 19, so as to form a small reservoir and duct for theink.

The cylinder 18 is supported by the shaft I 20, which is held in placeby the bearing 21 at the bottom and by the clutch mechanism 22 at thetop. The clutch 'at the top consists of the coupling 23, with pins 24enteringholes in the coupling 25. The'coupling 23 is attached to theclock mechanism or other motor of the'recorder from above and is held ina fixed position by the upper arm of the support 22. The coupling 25 isstationary with the shaft 20, which is adapted to be moved laterally inthe lower bearing of the support 22. The square bearing-block 26, (shownin Fig. 6,) through which the shaft 20 moves, has

a rabbeted edge which fits into a corresponding depression in the slit27, which after ad justment is held in place by tightening thethumb-screw 28, while the shaft 20 slides through it. The bearing-block25 constitutes a transverselyadjustable bearing for the shaft 20.

The lower end of the shaft 20 is supported by an adjustment held by thearms 29. The ends of the arms 29 are connected by the stationary part ofa hinged bearing 21. The other member of this hinged bearin g 21 ispivoted at 30 and held tight by the adjustingscrew 31, which is sopivoted at 32 that by slightly loosening the screw 31 the bolt may beswung around through a slot 44; in 21 on the dotted line 34, therebyleaving the movable member of the bearing 21 free to be swung in thedirection of the dotted line 35. \Vithin this bearing, which isinternally threaded, is a threaded tube 36, which surrounds the threadedend nut 37. The interiorly-threaded tube 36 is milled at its lower end,so as to allow easy adjustment by hand, and is'exteriorly threaded atits upper end for engagement with the internal threads of the bearing,while the nut 37 has an angular head for the use of a Wrench or othertool. Vhen the cylinder has been put in a relatively correct verticalposition by the nut 37, the hollow tube 36 is then turned by hand so asto procure a nice and accurate adjustment of the cylinder and time-slipwith respect to the pen, and

then the gate is fastened, making a lock for the lower bearing, butallowing the shaft 20 to turn easily. This lower bearing for the shaft20 is removable, as stated, by releasing the gate, and it comprises twodistinct adjustmen tsto wit, that secured by the movement of the nut 37within the tube 36 and by the movement or adjustment of the nut 36within the gate or two-part bracket. By the provision of thisshaft-supporting mechanism and the upper bearing 26, surmounted by aclutch, nicety of vertical and horizontal or longitudinal and lateraladjustment of the shaft may be obtained and the shaft, with itsrecord-cylinder, 1n ay be readily removed when desired. .1

38 is a flanged eollarfastcned to the shaft 20.

39 is a friction-washer which holds the cylinder in place in conjunctionwith the flanged collar 40.

The time-slip shown in Fig. 5 may be of any suitable form; but I preferto make it in the form shown, which consists of a sheet ruledhorizontally for the name-lines and vertically for the hourly divisionsof each day, which may be subdivided to show the quarters of each hour.The dots indicate the marks made by the pen. I

Although the plate 2 is described as being attached to the panel of adoor, it may be placed in any suitable place in a building Where it issuited.

The plunger of the penholder is divided into two shells, one for eachside of the pen,

and within each of these shells is a pillar v which is forced to theedge of the shell by the spiral springs 10. The pen 8 is pushed into aslot 43 between the two pillars.

The plate 11 has two small slots in which are pins or other projections41, tightened enough to keep the plate in position, while pressing downon this plate is a leaf-spring 42, which allows the plate to move up anddown. WVhen the plate 11 comes in contact with the insulated strips 12,the alarm-bell rings, notifying the foreman or other person should theworkman be entering or leaving the shop out-of time.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a workmans time-recorder, the combination with record-carryingmechanism and actuating means, of a slotted index-plate comprising topand bottom plates in contact with the index-plate and an intermediatebar connecting the top and bottom plates and passing through the slot, acatch for securing the penholder in its adjusted positions, a plungermovably carried by the penholder, means for normally urging the plungerin a direction opposite to the index-plate, and a pen carried by theplunger in alinement with the slot, substantially as specified.

2. In a workman s time-recorder, the combination with record-carryingmechanism and actuating means, of a slotted index-plate, a penholdermovably mounted in the slot, 00- operating locking mechanism carried bythe penholder and index-plate, a movable plunger carried by thepenholder, a spring intermediate of the plunger and holder, a pencarried by the plunger and extended through the slot in the index-plate,electrical terminals carried by the index-plate and a contact-platemounted upon the plunger but capable of movementindependent thereof,substantially as specified.

3. In a workmans ti me-recorder, the combination with record-carryin gmechanism and actuating means, of a penholder, a slotted index-plateadjustably supporting said penholder, said plate being provided withnotches along the opposite edges of the slot, a handle upon thepenholder, a spring-catch located beneath the handle and in engagementwith the notches in the index-plate, a spring-actuated plunger carriedby the penholder and a pen carried by the plunger and extending throughthe slot in the plate, substantially'as specified. I

t. In a workinans time-recorder, the combination with record-carryingmechanism and actuating means, of a penholder comprising top and bottomplates and an intermediate bar, a slotted index plate through which saidbar extends, a plunger carried by the penholder and movable toward andfrom the index-plate, a spring normally urging the plunger away fromsaid plate, apen carried by the plunger and extending through the slot,electrical terminals carried by the ind ex-plate, alongitudinally-slotted contact-plate designed to elect rically connectsaid terminals, and pins projecting from the plunger and engaging saidslot, substantially as specified.

5. The combination with a movable recordcarrying element and a slottedindex-plate, of a penholder adjustably mounted Within said slot, stripsmounted in proximity to the pen holder and constituting the terminals ofan alarm-circuit, a movable pen carried by the 'penholder and designedto be depressed into contact With the record carryin g elemen t, and acontact-plate in operative relation With, but capable of movementindependent of the pen and designed by the actuation of said pen toestablish electrical connection between the strips, substantially asspecified.

6. In a Workmans time-recorder, the comv bination With record-carryin gmechanism and actuating means, a slotted index-plate, and an adjustablepenholder, of a spring-actuated plunger carried by the penholder, a pencar ried by said plunger, electrical terminals mounted upon the plate, acontact-plate mechanism consisting of arms holding a gated box adaptedtobe opened and closed by a thumb-screw, a hollow tube threaded internallyand at one outside end and milled at the other, and an angular nutscrewed into the'end of said tube'forsnpporting the shaft of thecylinder.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in the presence of tWoWitnesses.

DANIEL HEPP.

Witnesses:

E. W. DIERSSEN, R. W. BARTELMANN.

